The present invention is directed to padded safety seats of the type used for holding infants while riding in an automobile and more specifically to a quick release arrangement for the infant restraining belts and detachable front crash pad associated with the seat.
It has been proposed in the prior art to utilize a selfcontained infant safety seat in conjunction with the conventional automobile seat for holding infants while travelling in an automobile. Such prior art devices usually include an infant seat which is secured to the automobile seat by rigid hooks which fit over the back of the vehicle seat. It has also been proposed to utilize the automobile safety seat belt to secure the base of an infant-type safety seat to the automobile seat and to use a harness in conjunction with the infant seat to restrain the infant. However, such devices generally do not provide a means for positively securing the infant seat to the automobile seat since the automobile safety belt is usually just secured around the base of the seat, thus allowing the seat to slip through the belt in the event of an automobile turnover.
Other prior art devices, while incorporating a harness in conjunction with the seat, do not allow limited free movement of the infant since the harnesses of prior art devices are of the type which are adapted to substantially completely restrain the infant from movement within the seat. However, a child will not tolerate tight restraints and shoulder straps associated with such harnesses are difficult and cumbersome to put in place. Furthermore, such straps are generally provided with complicated buckles or fastening means which would impede the quick removal of the child from the seat in an emergency situation such as the vehicle catching on fire.
In applicant's own prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,600 granted Feb. 16, 1971 an infant safety car seat was disclosed having a base portion adapted to rest on an automobile seat. The conventional automotive lap safety belt extended about the base of the chair and an additional strap extending vertically about the seat back was provided with an adjustable connector adapted to cooperate with a slot in the upper portion of the infant car seat to completely secure the infant safety seat to the automobile seat. The infant safety car seat was constructed from a molded plastic shell-like member having a removable front portion which substantially encapsulated the child. Quick release latch means were provided for detachably securing the front portion to the side portions of the seat and a combination vest-harness for the child was detachably connected to the seat independently of the detachable front portion. Therefore, in order to remove the child from the seat, it was necessary to first detach the front portion of the seat and then detach the vest-harness from the seat. While the vest-harness helped to restrain the child within the seat while permitting a great deal of relative movement within the seat, the vest-harness was secured to the chair at the waist portion thereof and did not provide any shoulder restraints for the child within the chair during sudden stop or crash conditions.